Safer Neighbourhoods

Police are extending a partnership with a leading food retailer in providing extra opportunities for the public to express their views about local policing. The Southern Co-operative stores across the Isle of Wight now contain official police ‘Your Voice Counts’ post boxes where people can collect and return A5 cards about the crime and anti-social behaviour issues that matter most in their area. Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Jackie May said: “I’ve been holding beat surgeries in the Co-operative for three years now and decided that closer working with the store could lead to ‘Your Voice Counts’ becoming available in island stores so the public would have another option to influence how we tackle their concerns. I believe these boxes are a convenient extra way to expand the ‘Your Voice Counts’ idea to many more local residents who may find it difficult to access a computer. These Co-operative stores provide an important service to the thousands of customers who visit them every week. By placing a post box in every store on the island, it means that each person who shops there is given the chance to take just a few minutes and fill out a card, whereas they may not have had the time or opportunity to do this before.”